Manchester City are setting the pace at the top of the Premier League, and in impressive fashion. They were clearly the better side in their 3-1 win over Liverpool on Monday, taking their chances with fantastic precision.
Manchester City vs. Liverpool: Final score 3-1, Stevan Jovetic the star
The first half was rather uneventful, though not devoid of quality. Both teams passed the ball around well and got into dangerous areas, but the defending was of an equally high standard and chances didn’t come easily for either side. Manchester City were the team that found the breakthrough, taking advantage of a lapse in concentration by new Liverpool signing Alberto Moreno.
Liverpool initially cleared away a ball into the box towards David Silva, but Moreno was caught standing still when he should have been able to win the ball and get it even farther away from his goal. Instead, Stevan Jovetic stole the ball, blew past him and hit a hard shot over Simon Mignolet.
It took less than 10 minutes of play in the second half for Jovetic to add a second, and in similar fashion. Just about the entire Liverpool midfield and defense were equally at fault on the second goal, with Jovetic starting the move, then getting on the end of a square ball by Samir Nasri and hitting another rocket into the back of the net. He was completely unmarked.
Sergio Aguero entered for Edin Dzeko in the 68th minute and took just 20 seconds to score. Fellow substitute Jesus Navas played a hopeful ball over the top into his general direction, and the Argentine had no problem beating Dejan Lovren for pace before putting his team up 3-0.
Brendan Rodgers made a bit of an odd sub, bringing on Rickie Lambert for Raheem Sterling -- his best player on the night -- but it paid off eventually. In the 83rd minute, he hit a header that Joe Hart saved initially, but the rebound hit Pablo Zabaleta's leg and rolled across the goal line.
Liverpool very nearly made things interesting with a bit of a surge immediately after the goal, but City quickly regained their composure and went out to close out the game against their hobbled opponents. Glen Johnson exited after Liverpool had already made three substitutes, leaving them with 10 men, while Martin Skrtel and Moreno picked up very heavy knocks as well. In the end, the Reds were a bit lucky to only lose by two goals.
Manchester City: Hart, Clichy, Demichelis, Kompany, Zabaleta, Fernando, Toure, Silva (Navas 65’), Jovetic (Fernandinho 80’), Nasri, Dzeko (Aguero 68’)
Goals: Jovetic (41’, 55’), Aguero (69’)
Liverpool: Mignolet, Moreno, Lovren, Skrtel, Johnson, Allen (Can 75’), Gerrard, Henderson, Sterling (Lambert 79’), Sturridge, Coutinho (Markovic 60’)
Goals: Zabaleta (OG 83’)
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